Dear Editor,
Hardly a day goes by I don’t receive one or more calls about animal cruelty. All are depressing but some seem to be carried out by sick madmen. On November 16, 2011 late in the evening, I received a call from an animal lover in Diamond Housing Scheme regarding very disturbing and sadistic cruelty done to a male dog. It was on Sunday evening (November 13) when neighbours heard the first distressing cries from a dog – like it was being beaten. They said the cries lasted for several minutes but it seemed to them like hours.
According to the animal lover who called me, the day after they heard the distressing cries one of the neighbourhood dogs she loves and regularly feeds, named Gavin, came crawling into her yard with a large part of its back scalped – an area of skin approximately 12 inches by 14 inches in the middle of its back had been cut away. She screamed when she saw Gavin’s condition and ran to his owner’s home. It should be noted here that the two young owners lost their father and their mother works in the interior. Their yard is not fenced so Gavin is free to wander; knowing the circumstances, several neighbours feed and look after the dog. Hearing the bad news one of the owners went around the area to discover what had happened to their dog. When she passed by the suspected scene of the atrocity she saw blood from the bridge to the coward’s home and paw prints covered in blood on the road.
While many people in the area know the coward who committed this inhumane act, the owners cannot prove it because neighbours are afraid to speak out. According to another person, they think the coward’s dog is in heat and he is set on punishing any other dog that enters his property. While this man may have legal rights to protect his dog and property, what he is doing is morally wrong.
Gavin had to be put to sleep on November 17.
On November 18, I got another call from the same animal lover from Diamond telling me that at around 2.30 pm she heard distressing screams coming from another dog in the same location.
She told me that when she heard the screams it was like someone calling her for help; her whole body started shaking and she ran into her house crying, locked the door and started praying to Allah.
Each time I live one of these nightmares I tell myself, “Don’t cry, he or she is better off in heaven.” But I have found that the only way to not cry for the animals is to not think about them and that is not acceptable. So feel free to cry for the animals. You can stop crying when animal abuse comes to an end.
As long as neighbours remain silent (in any neighbourhood) such abuses will continue to happen.
Thank you for caring.
Yours faithfully,
Syeada Manbodh
